Journalist Hikmet Bila passes away

Prominent Turkish journalist Hikmet Bila, who had been receiving cancer treatment for some time, has passed away in his Ankara home yesterday at the age of 57.

Prominent Turkish journalist Hikmet Bila, who had been receiving cancer treatment for some time, has passed away in his Ankara home yesterday at the age of 57.

Bila’s funeral will be held at Istanbul’s Teşvikiye Mosque today following afternoon prayers.

Born in the mining town of Zonguldak on the Black Sea coast in 1954, Bila graduated from Ankara University’s political science faculty with a degree in international relations, after which he began his career in journalism.

He served both as an administrator and a writer first in the daily Milliyet and later in the daily Cumhuriyet for a total of nine years. Prior to his passing away, he was employed at the daily Vatan as a columnist.

Bila was also involved in production of a well-known documentary about Turkey’s Sept. 12, 1980, coup alongside journalists Mehmet Ali Birand and Rıdvan Akar.

He interviewed the coup’s leader, Kenan Evren, for more than 18 hours for the documentary.